As my information on Super Striker and Newfooty expanded, I felt
justified in giving them their own tributes within the bigger Subbuteo website.
Now the same is true for another quirky British reproduction of the beautiful
game.

Table Association Football (TAF) 4-2-4

"This is the nearest thing to live football I have ever
seen." - Alan Hardaker, Secretary English Football League.

Table Association Football (TAF 4-2-4) was an important alternative to Subbuteo
in the late 1960s to early 1970s. The inventor was Tom Waterman, a keen
footballer and coach, and clearly one of life's natural game inventors. He
also has "Batter Up", Trafalgar and Militaire on his CV.

Mr Waterman, unsurprisingly, had played Subbuteo as a teenager,
but was frustrated by what he saw as an unrealistic approach to football. He
tells the tale of how after missing a short flick in front of goal, a youthful
friend managed to flick a figure the length of the field to touch the ball. "How
does a man on the penalty spot at one end of the field manage to lose possession
to a man on the corner flag at the other end of the field". Thinking
about how to overcome this type
of problem
eventually lead to the development of TAF 4-2-4.

Basically, TAF 4-2-4 was a game based on the skill of passing
the ball. Getting to the ball was easy (you just picked up the players and moved
them), it was the ability to pass the ball accurately that was tested. It also
taught the basics of tactical football, with the player urged to replace his
figures in the correct positions after use (and indeed, it is essential that you do).

4-2-4 was certainly a more tactical game than other table
football games, as hinted at by
the dice included in the set. The players were very similar in size and look to Subbuteo, but they
came on large wedge shaped bases. You used the straight edge for
passing along the ground, and the sloped edge for chipping. The goalkeeper too
was similar to the Subbuteo version, but had a large clear plastic back to aid in saving.
This was necessary because the ball was very small, and you would otherwise have
had no chance of stopping it.

The pitch
had black outlined "player zones" where the players operated in the
4-2-4 formation (hence the name of the game). The idea was to pass the ball from zone
to zone. If the ball finished outside the zone, possession was lost. If it
stopped on the line, the tackle dice could be rolled by the defence. After a successful pass, the
defender could move a player close to the ball (called a challenge). The
attacker was then allowed a singe "dribble" of the ball to get in a
position to pass again or shoot. Using another attacking figure to deflect the
ball into the net (or to aid a pass to another zone) was encouraged, and results could be spectacular.

The bases were
constructed of two pieces, with a firm plastic upper and a
thin rubbery grip underneath to glide on the playing surface. The method of passing worked well,
with the square sides giving a crisp pass, and the chip being easy to execute
(but harder to control). Unlike Subbuteo, you could actually chip a pass, rather than
just a shot. The goals were smaller than Subbuteo, and the
goalkeeper covered about a third of the goal from pitch to crossbar. As I have
mentioned, this is because the ball was small, and would otherwise be hard to
save.

The game does produce an enjoyable game of football, but it does
have a few disadvantages compared to Subbuteo. Any game where you have to pick
up the players, seems less skilled than Subbuteo's flicking. The tactical side
is mostly restricted to the 4-2-4 positions, and running with the ball is not an
option. Using dice for tackling, also adds a luck element that Subbuteo does not
need. Mind you, this is not really any more abstract than tackling in other
football games, and the inventor thinks the system has the right degree of risk
and reward. He points out that a good player (in any form of football) should
only tackle when the odds are in this favour.

In the game's favour is the ability to have proper free-kicks
and corners. The sloping base allowing the ball to be confidently played in the air (and indeed deflected into the
net). It certainly impressed Sir Alan Hardaker, whose quote appears in several
versions of the set. The inventor tells how Mr Hardaker arranged for a
demonstration with the England squad (fresh from winning the World Cup). "Sir
Alf Ramsey said we could have his lads for half an hour. They played it for two
and a half hours!"

The game was set to be a success, and post-1966 is reported to
have sold 20,000 copies in three months.

The original 1960s set came in the compact red and blue box
shown at the top of this page, and
was a thing of beauty. The set featured England and Scotland sides on contrasting
bases, with each player having a unique numbered base. Shown above is one of the Scottish players, next to a standard Subbuteo
figure, so you can see the similar size and style.

As the other photo shows, 4-2-4 did have a crack at producing a
team range, and the different colour bases look great. Some of these teams are
later models, where the base
numbers are simply stickers. I've been
advised that 4-2-4 teams could be ordered from the inventor in any colours that
you required. So they were in fact, painted to order. The teams were more
expensive than a Subbuteo team, but the quality of the paint finish was much
higher. The teams came in unmarked, custom made boxes of white card. There
were extra card supports for the goalkeeper, and judging from the sets I've
seen, a ball and tackle dice were included.

I was chatting to a friend (Gary) at a toy collectors fair, and
he mentioned that his friends had formed a 4-2-4 league in the early 1970s. One
of them had originally owned the box set, and the rest were so impressed with
how the game looked that they all wanted a copy. Each kid ordered a different
team from the World Cup, and Gary told me that the Argentina was
particularly fine. In addition, if a team had stand-out players, these were
often painted into these early teams. Of course, all the bases were numbered, so
players could be unique. One of his circle was a proud owner of a Manchester
United, with recognisable George Best (sideburns), and Bobby Charlton. However,
the Liverpool (and Chelsea) shown above have identikit players, and I think that
was the norm.

The early teams were supplied glued into their bases, and the
players were moulded onto a thin bar like Subbuteo. Later on, (and
certainly by the Grandslam era, see below), the players were produced on a deeper
bar. This meant that the teams did not have to be glued into the bases, and
extra players could be supplied loose, and simply swapped into the bases in
the set. I am assuming you could also buy these new figures unpainted, as I own
a few glossy sides that certainly look home-painted.

Grandslam Version (1970s).

This was a "mass market" version of 4-2-4. If a company wants to
produce a tabletop football game, sometimes it is cheaper and easier to buy the
rights to an existing game, rather than design a new one. 4-2-4 spent a decade
leased to an American company who produced this version.

The subtitle of this version was "the realistic table football
game", which underlined the rivalry with Subbuteo.

As you can see, the teams here were simply produced in all white
and all blue plastic. Whilst this cut down on painting time, they look pretty awful compared to the earlier
version, especially the blue team. The goals and bases were identical
to the earlier version, except that the original indented numbers on the bases were replaced with
stickers. This was a cost-cutting move, and probably quite sensible for
mass-production.
The other cost-cutting move was, unfortunately, game breaking.

Grandslam was still nicely presented within the box. The troubles
started when you removed it. The big problem with Grandslam was the
pitch. To cut costs, the lovely baize pitch was replaced by a cheap artificial
surface made of a white material, printed green. For starters, the pitch folded
into horrible creases, and would melt if ironed. However, even fresh out of the
box it was too hard a surface to play on, and the ball would simply run out of
control. Grandslam's producers were not the only company to fall into this trap.
Subbuteo too switched to a cheaper alternative to baize from about 1980, but at
least their pitches were not as poor as this one (and they did produce the
expensive Astropitch as an alternative).

Mr Waterman duly reported the problems, but sadly found he had
no say in the production of the game.

Premier League!

These sets from the 1990s saw 4-2-4 return to its inventor's
control, and of course the baize pitch made a welcome return. Once again, many of the
components had a familiar look, including the goals and goalkeepers. The bases
kept the same shape, but were now green, with the teams differentiated in play
by a large coloured sticker on the top surface (again, individually numbering
the players). The new base was a one-piece design. Instead of the rubbery
"foot", the underneath of the base was now mostly hollow, with grip marks only
on the edges. The playing figure was different to the 1970s version, being made
of a modern plastic and printed with shirt details. They do have a rather odd
looking stance.

The gameplay itself had also been tweaked. The
defensive "challenges" and single "dribble" had gone. Instead, the
defending players could be positioned around a position mark to prevent passing.
The "player zones" had also changed in shape slightly. Overall, the
rulebook was much clearer than the Grandslam version, and emphasized the speed,
skills and tactics required. In addition, the set included a coaching and
instructional video.

The box stated that the game was recommended by The English
Schools Football Association.

There were several sets of Premier League produced, and my
understanding is that these were designed for club shops. Each set was tailored
to the club in question, and featured the home team against a well known rival.
As well as the sets shown above, I know of a Portsmouth vs Southampton set, and
Old Football Games has a Leeds
Utd vs Manchester United version. The video case suggests that England and Scotland
versions were also produced. Interestingly, the name on the pitch is TAF Premier
League.

Premier Table Soccer 2000.

This lovely set was a tweaked version of Premier League designed
for general release. The interior of the box was unchanged from the 1990s
version, with the coaching video, and teams neatly laid out. Once again, it was
sold as "the realistic table football game", and also "the footballer's football
game". This time, the recommendation of the game came from The Professional
Footballers Association (PFA), and it must be pleasing for the inventor to have
had so much support from the football community down the years.

The game was displayed at the Match of the Day exhibition at the
NEC Birmingham in 2000, and a website was produced to support it.

Like many football games in the 21st Century, licensing issues
and image rights mean that the team kits had to be fudged. Lucky then, that
England and Brazil have such recognisable colours... The figures
themselves had changed again since Premier League, and the new look was much
better. A clever touch was the suggestion of name and number on the shirt.

The ease of short gentle chipping remained a strength, and the
advertising for this version highlighted the ability to have proper free kicks
and corners. I have included a photo of the pitch once again, so the zones can
be compared with earlier versions. The curved black lines are a shooting area
and the big black crosses are extra tackle lines.

If you are interested in playing Premier Table Soccer, then a
new version is being produced. The new version of the game has an instructional
DVD instead of a video, and is available from
http://premiertablesoccer.com/ for
£32.99. Extra teams are also available to purchase.

Final thanks on this page must go to inventor Tom Waterman, who
kindly wrote to me with extra details and clarifications.